Documenting one man's planning for, travel to and experience at the 2012 Tour de France, with some extra fluff thrown in for good measure...

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Stuff I'm taking to France

It's getting close to packing time for France, so I guess I ought to put together a packing list. And since I've bored everyone with all the other insignificant details of my planning, why stop now? Therefore, here's what I think I'll be taking with me to France:

Clothes for 7 days, mostly consisting of shorts and t-shirts, but with a pair of jeans and one decent shirt with a collar thrown in just in case I have to get "dressed up"

A jacket (in case it gets cold in the mountains)

Umbrella (hey, it might rain while we are waiting for the race on the side of the road, and I don't want to be miserable!)

French travel guides

French phrase book

Books and magazines for the plane (both Nathan and I are currently reading Game of Thrones)

Unlocked phone (will buy a prepaid SIM card there to be able to make calls and send texts)

Electrical adapter and 3 way adapter (for charging multiple phones and laptops at the same time)

Mizzou flag (to wave during the race!)

Camera

Map (the previously mentioned giant Michelin number!)

Passport

Sandals

Tennis shoes

Toiletries

Laptop

Headset for laptop (for Skype calls)

Phone charger and cables

Spare batteries

Backpack (to carry food and water into the mountains)

There are a number of things that I will buy when we get to France:

SIM card for phone

Chalk (to write something on the road)

Food and drinks (for when we are waiting for the race on the road)

Nathan says he is going to try to pack all his stuff into a medium-sized gym back and the backpack he carries his laptop in. I think I should definitely be able to get this my stuff into a duffle bag. Therefore, we should be able to avoid checking any bags for the trip which will be huge. Of course, we will have to do laundry while we are there, but that's a small price to pay for being able to avoid the baggage carousel and being 100% certain our luggage arrives with us.